Last week we reported that Ironman was considering moving the World Championship out of Hawaii for the first time – today the company announced exactly where it will be going: St. George, Utah. Ironman had postponed this October’s world championship to next February – now that event will be further postponed and moved to the host site of last weekend’s Ironman 70.3 World Championship. The race will take place on May 7, 2022.
This means that the Ironman World Championship will take place outside of Hawaii for the first time since it started in 1978.
“The ongoing uncertainty regarding Kailua-Kona, Hawaii`s ability to host the event in February required a change in venue to outside of Hawaii for the first time since the inaugural event in 1978,” Ironman said in a release today.
The Ironman World Championship will return to Hawaii next October with a new two-day race format and will also include the same number of male and female pros for the first time. The 50-woman pro field will compete on Thursday, Oct. 6, while the 50 -men pro field will race on Saturday, Oct. 8. Ironman says it will announce the age-group race formats “in the coming weeks.”
“We expect the races in October of 2022 to be unique and historic,” said Ironman CEO Andrew Messick. “Two days of racing in Kailua-Kona addresses the overwhelming demand from athletes to race in a World Championship and will allow us to host our deferred athletes and place more emphasis on showcasing our women’s and men’s professional races.”
